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Cancer and ageing: a nexus at several levels

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 5, pages 655–662 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Cancer is largely a disease of older people. With the relatively recent expansive growth within the geriatric population, a number of pressing biological and clinical questions that currently remain unanswered need to be addressed. These include what effect age itself has on the development or growth of cancer, and what are the benefits and risks of cancer prevention and treatment for the older person? New insights into the underlying biological processes of ageing provide a frame of reference for addressing these and other related questions.

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Figure 1: Projected burden of cancer in the United States.
Figure 2: Application of the comprehensive geriatric assessment to decisions related to cancer prevention and treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senior Oncology Program, part of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, 33612, Florida, USA

    Lodovico Balducci

  2. the Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Aging, 1700 Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, 20007, DC, USA

    William B. Ershler

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  1. Lodovico Balducci
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Correspondence to Lodovico Balducci or William B. Ershler.

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DATABASES

National Cancer Institute

breast cancer

colorectal cancer

sndometrial cancer

leukaemia

lung and non-small cell lung cancer

ovarian cancer

prostate cancer

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Balducci, L., Ershler, W. Cancer and ageing: a nexus at several levels. Nat Rev Cancer 5, 655–662 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1675

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